Advanta Business Card for Bloggers, eBay, PPC

As an online marketer of sorts, I was delighted when American Express Business Gold offered a 5% discount on my pay-per-click ad spend at Yahoo Search Marketing (I don’t spend a lot but 5% is still 5% off). I had hoped that someone would start offering cash back business cards on other advertising networks but also resigned myself to the fact that online marketing is still a minority in the business world.

Well, Advanta, which I had always known as one of the only credit cards with a 15 month 0% balance transfer promotion, has begun offering the Advanta Platinum BusinessCard for Online Marketers. It’s a card that is perfect for someone just starting their business and looking for an edge, you’ll see why in a moment.

Here are the categories that earn 5% cashback (there is a catch):

• Online PPC Advertising, including Google™, Yahoo!® and MSN® Search
• eBay® Fees
• Website Hosting, Shipping, USPS
• Computers and Office Supplies
• Cellular Services and Gas

There is one drawback though: Earn 5% on the first $1,200 in Bonus category purchases annually and up to 1% on other purchases. (and the 1% on other purchases is tiered, “Cash Back rewards are earned based on your annual level of Net Purchases, excluding Bonus Qualifying purchases, as follows: .25% on up to $3,000 in purchases; .50% on purchases between $3,000.01 and $5,000; .75% on purchases between $5,000.01 and $15,000; and 1% on purchases in excess of $15,000.”)

Who would benefit the most from this? Bloggers, novice or beginner internet marketers, eBay sellers, and website operators; especially if you don’t already have a business credit card. It’s important for every business to have a separate business credit card to segregate your personal and business “lives.” This one has no annual fee one and some cashback benefits, so it makes a good choice (American Express Business Gold has a $125 annual fee). $1,200 goes a long way when it comes to eBay fees, hosting, and other business expenses but is less effective on pay-per-click campaigns once you get that ball rolling.

I’ll be sticking with the American Express Business Gold card for the 5% discount (it’s not cash back, it’s a straight discount, you get 1% cashback on the other 95% though) on Yahoo Search Marketing (despite its slow demise) is a better move given the limits of the Advanta card.